Western Center provides a community for Miami students

Located within the walls of Peabody Hall on Western Campus, the Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation offers free programming for students every day.

Some of these programs include Tea and Conversation, nature walks, Monday morning pancakes, crochet sessions and more. The Western Center also invites guest speakers to present to students.

Jacqueline Daugherty, director of the Western Center, said that in addition to the usual programming, some of their guest speakers have included people like Rebecca Nagle, journalist and advocate with the Cherokee Nation, William A. Darity Jr., an economist and social scientist at Duke University and John Tateishi, a Japanese-American civil rights advocate.

Often, these programs collaborate with the Honors College at Miami University which is also housed in Peabody Hall along with the individualized studies program.

In the individualized program, students help design their own majors, leading to them developing strong relationships with faculty.

Daugherty said the center takes an approach to learning that differs from many other programs at Miami. The education is more interdisciplinary and experiential than others, and both students and faculty are hands-on with the education model.

“In the Western tradition, on campus, there’s always been a really strong mentor-mentee relationship between faculty, staff and students,” Daugherty said.

Billy Simms, Western Center coordinator, said the Center has a theme that changes biannually. Right now, the theme focuses on democracy and often the speakers relate to the theme.

“Usually, we have one standing event, Tea and Conversation, and that’s where students can hang out with Western faculty and staff and we talk, sometimes it’s a more casual conversation, sometimes you get into some deep, intellectual stuff,” Simms said. “And then the other programming, I let my student workers decide what they like to do.”

Simms said, at its core, the Western Center is a student center. It’s a place where students can spend their time, socialize and study, but they also offer programming, which will soon be available almost every weekday.

Photo by Ellen Long | The Miami Student
Students enjoy free SDS pizza provided by the Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation.

Students run much of the programming, and it is tailored to their specific interests. One student contributes even after graduating.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

“On Fridays, we show classic movies in the Western Center, usually older, black and white movies,” Simms said. “That got started a few years ago by a student who graduated last year, but he still picks the movies and sends them to me.”

Olivia Allen, a junior individualized studies and strategic communication major, works at the Western Center. For Allen, her involvement helped her become more disciplined because it taught her how to balance learning and work.

At the center, Allen runs the nature walk.

“[My favorite is] the walking, the event that I run, just because I love to walk and be outside,” Allen said.

Allen said joining the center almost happened by accident with her getting pulled into it after taking a related class. Now, she works for the center and helps to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Allen said the best part for her has been the connections she has formed.

“It creates a space for people who are in the Western Program, which normally tends to be people who are different or people who would be seen as outsiders in the community,” Allen said. “... it welcomes people.”

powers40@miamioh.edu